Qualcomm Stadium is amid effort to go green

Qualcomm Stadium officials are building on their environmental record and looking to save money this season with cutting-edge efforts to provide solar-powered trash compactors and recycling machines that spit out coupons when people put in cans and bottles.

Those experiments won't be in place for the Chargers' first home game tomorrow, but they likely will be by midseason.

Earlier this summer, the stadium's managers replaced about 4,000 fluorescent bulbs with more efficient lights and watched the venue's energy consumption — and bills — plummet. They also are looking at ways to reduce wasted food in the kitchens.

“We are just trying to keep in step with city policies and get out in front of some things that we should be doing and can be doing better,” said Mike McSweeney, who runs the city-owned stadium.

The efforts will extend a long history of environmental programs by San Diego and the Chargers, which topped the National Football League in the collection of recyclable containers in 2007.

Qualcomm won't be the first place in the county with the “reverse vending” machines, but it's at the front end of a growing trend. Petco Park has adopted the device, and the Whole Foods markets in Hillcrest and La Jolla each have two. Those stores recently installed the devices in partnership with GreenOps, a subsidiary of Waste Management, a national garbage and recycling company with a big footprint in the San Diego region.

About 50 GreenOps stations have been installed in California and Arizona. The devices — a bit larger than soda vending machines — don't give out cash. Instead, they can be customized to offer coupons for various items and/or credits toward purchases of environmentally friendly products.

“So many of our customers have expressed interest in having (the machines) in public places and retail locations that I think we will be seeing a lot more of them,” said Jennifer Andrews, a spokeswoman for Waste Management in San Diego County.

Waste Management is providing the machines at no cost, at least during the pilot phase. Andrews wouldn't discuss how the company makes — or intends to make — money on the stations, but the GreenOps Web site describes advertising options for sponsors.

McSweeney is negotiating with Waste Management for two “reverse vending” stations at Qualcomm. He's also trying to determine how they should work, for instance by dispensing vouchers for free or discounted stadium concessions.

“If we can test their technologies at no cost the city, we are fine with that,” he said. “It helps us to collect more recyclables with less manpower and it . . . could help drive some merchandise sales.”

In addition, McSweeney plans to establish two “buy back” centers outside the stadium that pay fans who turn in cans and bottles.

The “reverse vending” machines would likely be a first for pro football stadiums, said David Krichavsky, an NFL spokesman in New York.

“It is something that's very innovative,” he said.

McSweeney also aims to offer fans better garbage and recycling service in the stadium's parking lot. The most unusual idea is to set out a few solar-powered garbage compactors, which hold about five times as much trash as conventional containers.

“If the technology proves reliable, the benefit to the city is that we could possibly reduce the amount of man hours needed to empty trash cans,” McSweeney said.